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KorvinStarmast
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How do I make this work, this "sense of direction change and getting lostlost" work?"

How do I make this work, this "sense of direction change and getting lost?"

How do I make this "sense of direction change and getting lost" work?

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KorvinStarmast
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Partially correct. One of the things that has not translated well over time is a standard "table" assumption that goes back to the original game (a convention that Basic D&D a and AD&D sustainedcontinued).

The players start with a blank sheet of graph paper before they "go underground" and one player volunteers to, or is tasked with, the sketching  /tracking tracking /mapping mapping of the party's progress as the DM describes their environment. Obviously, this is put on pause when combat starts, but here is an example from Wilderness and Underworld Adventures (OD&D, Book III). (My B/X is elsewhere at the moment, but it has a similar example in it): (Below is excerpted from OD&D, Wilderness and Underworld Adventures, 1074, TSR, pagesp. 12 - 13).

EXAMPLE OF THE REFEREE MODERATING A DUNGEON EXPEDITION:
The players, equipped and ready, are assumed to have located a set of stairs descending to the first level beneath the ground. The.. The Referee's part will be indicated REF, that of the "Caller" for the players being shown as CAL.
REF: Steps down to the east.
CAL: We're going down.
REF: 10', 20', 30' — a 10' square landing — steps down to the north and curving down southeast.
CAL Take those to the southeast.
REF 10', and the steps curve more to the south; 20'. Steps end, and you are on a 10' wide passage which runs east, southeast, and west. There is a door to your left across the passage on a northwest wall.
CAL Listen at the door — three of us.
REF (After rolling three dice) You hear nothing. (At this time a check for wandering monsters is also made.)
CAL Ignore the door and proceed along the corridor southeastwards.
REF 10', 20', 30', 40', 50'. "Four way": Northwest, northeast, south and southwest — the south passage is 20' wide.
CAL Go south.
REF 10'-70': passage continues, doors east and west.
CAL Listen at the east door.

If adopting that mapping function causes disruption with your players, then look at what this maze is supposed to be as a challenge: it is supposed to represent "getting lost in the labyrinth."

Ask your players "how to"How do you intend to keep track of where you are going?" Let them know, by your narration, that they feel a little confused, and as they move through the labyrinth they get the nagging feeling that of deja vu, or "haven't we been here before?" whether they have or not.

The second time I ran Keep on the BorderlandsKeep on the Borderlands, for teens and pre teens, that's what we did for the labyrinth. We put the party into a marching order, and then I described what they saw and relied on them to either keep track of the right and left turns, or do something else. As one of them had read the old legends of Thesus and the Minotaur, after the second turn he declared (he was playing a cleiccleric) that he was keeping his hand on the right wall, and that they would make "all right turns." The others went along with this.

Partially correct. One of the things that has not translated well over time is a standard "table" assumption that goes back to the original game (a convention that Basic D&D a and AD&D sustained).

The players start with a blank sheet of graph paper before they "go underground" and one player volunteers to, or is tasked with, the sketching/tracking/mapping of the party's progress as the DM describes their environment. Obviously, this is put on pause when combat starts, but here is an example from Wilderness and Underworld Adventures (OD&D, Book III). (My B/X is elsewhere at the moment, but it has a similar example in it): (Below is excerpted from OD&D, Wilderness and Underworld Adventures, 1074, TSR, pages 12 - 13).

EXAMPLE OF THE REFEREE MODERATING A DUNGEON EXPEDITION:
The players, equipped and ready, are assumed to have located a set of stairs descending to the first level beneath the ground. The Referee's part will be indicated REF, that of the "Caller" for the players being shown as CAL.
REF: Steps down to the east.
CAL: We're going down.
REF: 10', 20', 30' — a 10' square landing — steps down to the north and curving down southeast.
CAL Take those to the southeast.
REF 10', and the steps curve more to the south; 20'. Steps end, and you are on a 10' wide passage which runs east, southeast, and west. There is a door to your left across the passage on a northwest wall.
CAL Listen at the door — three of us.
REF (After rolling three dice) You hear nothing. (At this time a check for wandering monsters is also made.)
CAL Ignore the door and proceed along the corridor southeastwards.
REF 10', 20', 30', 40', 50'. "Four way": Northwest, northeast, south and southwest — the south passage is 20' wide.
CAL Go south.
REF 10'-70': passage continues, doors east and west.
CAL Listen at the east door.

If adopting that mapping function disruption with your players, then look at what this maze is supposed to be as a challenge: it is supposed to represent "getting lost in the labyrinth."

Ask your players "how to you intend to keep track of where you are going?" Let them know, by your narration, that they feel a little confused, and as they move through the labyrinth they get the nagging feeling that of deja vu, or "haven't we been here before?" whether they have or not.

The second time I ran Keep on the Borderlands, for teens and pre teens, that's what we did for the labyrinth. We put the party into a marching order, and then I described what they saw and relied on them to either keep track of the right and left turns, or do something else. As one of them had read the old legends of Thesus and the Minotaur, after the second turn he declared (he was playing a cleic) that he was keeping his hand on the right wall, and that they would make "all right turns."

Partially correct. One of the things that has not translated well over time is a standard "table" assumption that goes back to the original game (a convention that Basic D&D and AD&D continued).

The players start with a blank sheet of graph paper before they "go underground" and one player volunteers to, or is tasked with, the sketching  / tracking / mapping of the party's progress as the DM describes their environment. Obviously, this is put on pause when combat starts, but here is an example from Wilderness and Underworld Adventures (My B/X is elsewhere at the moment, but it has a similar example in it): (Below is excerpted from OD&D, Wilderness and Underworld Adventures, 1074, TSR, p. 12 - 13).

EXAMPLE OF THE REFEREE MODERATING A DUNGEON EXPEDITION:
... The Referee's part will be indicated REF, that of the "Caller" for the players being shown as CAL.
REF: Steps down to the east.
CAL: We're going down.
REF: 10', 20', 30' — a 10' square landing — steps down to the north and curving down southeast.
CAL Take those to the southeast.
REF 10', and the steps curve more to the south; 20'. Steps end, and you are on a 10' wide passage which runs east, southeast, and west. There is a door to your left across the passage on a northwest wall.
CAL Listen at the door — three of us.
REF (After rolling three dice) You hear nothing. (At this time a check for wandering monsters is also made.)
CAL Ignore the door and proceed along the corridor southeastwards.
REF 10', 20', 30', 40', 50'. "Four way": Northwest, northeast, south and southwest — the south passage is 20' wide.
CAL Go south.
REF 10'-70': passage continues, doors east and west.
CAL Listen at the east door.

If adopting that mapping function causes disruption with your players, then look at what this maze is supposed to be as a challenge: it is supposed to represent "getting lost in the labyrinth."

Ask your players "How do you intend to keep track of where you are going?" Let them know, by your narration, that they feel a little confused, and as they move through the labyrinth they get the nagging feeling that of deja vu, or "haven't we been here before?" whether they have or not.

The second time I ran Keep on the Borderlands, for teens and pre teens, that's what we did for the labyrinth. We put the party into a marching order, and then I described what they saw and relied on them to either keep track of the right and left turns, or do something else. As one of them had read the old legends of Thesus and the Minotaur, after the second turn he declared (he was playing a cleric) that he was keeping his hand on the right wall, and that they would make "all right turns." The others went along with this.

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KorvinStarmast
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Once the party enter the labyrinth, revert to theater of the mind and set the figures / battlemap aside until a significant encounter crops up.

Once the party enter the labyrinth, revert to theater of the mind and set the figures / battlemap aside.

Once the party enter the labyrinth, revert to theater of the mind and set the figures / battlemap aside until a significant encounter crops up.

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KorvinStarmast
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